Who is Responsible if a Negligent or Reckless Driver Injures You?

How do insurance companies and courts determine fault in a Nova Scotia car accident? What steps should you take if a negligent or reckless motorist injures you? Can you recover compensation? When should you contact a Nova Scotia car accident lawyer?

There are more than five thousand traffic accidents in Nova Scotia every year, and in 2023, those accidents resulted in fifty-five fatalities. When a driver causes someone else’s injury or wrongful death, that driver is assigned fault and deemed liable for the victim’s injury or death.

Negligence is central in most car accident-related disputes and personal injury trials. If a negligent driver injures you in Nova Scotia, after you receive medical attention – that is the top priority – your next step is contacting a Halifax car accident lawyer.

How Will an Injury Lawyer Help You?

Your lawyer will investigate the accident and examine the police and medical reports, eyewitness statements, and photos or video. Your car accident lawyer will then explain your rights and legal options, which may include filing a personal injury lawsuit.

The at-fault driver’s car insurance company may dispute your claim, so you must have evidence of that driver’s negligence or recklessness. To prevail with your injury claim and prove the other driver was at-fault, you and your auto accident lawyer must prove these conditions existed:

  1. The other motorist (the “defendant”) owed you (the “plaintiff”) a “duty of care.”
  2. Instead, the driver breached that duty.
  3. The defendant’s negligence or recklessness is the reason for your injury.
  4. Your damages are quantifiable, and justice requires the other driver to compensate you.

What is a Duty of Care and a Breach of Duty?

The first question that must be answered in a car accident case is whether the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care. Drivers owe other drivers, passengers, and pedestrians the duty to operate an automobile responsibly, safely, and with reasonable caution and awareness.

The second question in a personal injury case is whether the at-fault driver breached the duty of care by failing to behave as a “reasonably prudent” individual would have behaved in a comparable situation.

A driver will probably be held liable for a victim’s injuries if a “typical” individual in a similar situation would have acted differently and not breached the duty of care.

How Are Causation and Damages Determined?

The third issue that must be dealt with is whether a defendant’s breach of the duty of care was an actual and direct cause of the plaintiff’s injuries. For instance, if another driver slams into your vehicle, but you are not injured, you have no grounds for filing an injury claim.

The final question that must be answered is the amount of the damages. The victims of reckless and negligent drivers are entitled under law to seek compensation for damages that include medical costs and lost wages.

Nova Scotia law also presumes physical injuries are accompanied by pain and suffering, so the law entitles car accident victims to compensation for that pain and suffering. It’s a challenge to calculate a dollar amount for pain and suffering damages, so Nova Scotia’s courts use standard, widely accepted formulas to calculate what is considered a fair and just award in these cases.

How Are Car Accident Cases Resolved?

Most car accident cases are resolved when the lawyers for both sides negotiate an out-of-court settlement. However, if liability for the accident is in dispute, or if the defendant does not make an acceptable settlement offer, your Nova Scotia car accident lawyer will take your case to court.

At your personal injury trial, your lawyer will explain why the defendant should be found liable, how (and how seriously) you were injured, and how much compensation you should recover. Your lawyer will ask the court to find in your favor and order the payment of your compensation.

When Should You Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer?

Under Nova Scotia’s Limitation of Actions Act of 2015, the injured victim of a negligent driver has two years from the injury date to initiate legal action. The courts may extend that deadline in specific circumstances, for example, if your injury was latent and was not detected immediately.

Your Halifax car accident lawyer can explain the Limitation of Actions Act exceptions. Nevertheless, any personal injury claim you bring is more likely to prevail if you submit to an immediate medical examination and follow it by taking immediate legal action.

Do not wait two years after a negligent driver has injured you – or even two weeks – to arrange a meeting with a car accident lawyer. Your lawyer needs to see the evidence while it is still fresh and speak to any witnesses before their recollections begin to fade.

What Else Should You Know?

If you are injured and need compensation after an accident, do not answer any questions from the other driver’s auto insurance company. Do not make any statement to that company or sign any document. The insurance company could use anything you say against you.

Instead, take your case immediately to an experienced Halifax personal injury lawyer who will negotiate with the insurance company. If the company contacts you, refer their inquiries to your car accident lawyer and say nothing more.

Who Should Handle Your Personal Injury Claim?

If a reckless or negligent motorist injures you, you must be advised and represented by an auto accident lawyer who knows how to determine fault and liability. Contact a Halifax personal injury lawyer at McKiggan Hebert Lawyers as quickly as possible.

Our lawyers know how to bring your car accident case to its best possible resolution. If another driver injures you, after you’ve received treatment for your injury, contact McKiggan Hebert Lawyers to schedule a free, no-obligation evaluation of your case. Call us at 902-706-2298 .

The award-winning injury lawyers at McKiggan Hebert Lawyers have decades of experience prevailing on behalf of the injured victims of negligence in and near Halifax and across Nova Scotia. Let us fight for the compensation you need and deserve.